Man's body found riddled with gunshot wounds, stab wounds

By Lynn A. Wade

Herald-Tribune

The Vernon County Sheriff's Office is investigating the murder of 23-year-old Dennis Gibbs, of the Nevada-Fort Scott area, whose body, riddled with several gunshot wounds and several stab wounds, was found by Vernon County Sheriff's Office deputies at the intersection of Z Highway and Katy Track Road, near Richards, Mo., Thursday evening.

Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman said the Western Missouri 911 Center received a call about a wrecked vehicle at first, then received calls about a homicide in the Richards area. One of the calls was from the mother of the suspect in the case, Joseph M. Cathey, 24, also of the Nevada-Fort Scott area, about a homicide in the area. Passers-by had seen Gibb's small pickup in the ditch, which led to the calls about a vehicle crash, but when deputies discovered Gibb's stabbed and bullet-riddled body behind the pickup, he was obviously already deceased, the victim of an attack Peckman described as "personal" and apparently performed with "a lot of anger." A motive hasn't been clearly identified, but Peckman said it's likely investigators will discover that drugs were involved, "some how, some way." Gibbs was scheduled to appear in a Vernon County court on May 13, for a hearing relating to charges filed April 5 of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, according to information on a Missouri Courts Web site.

Peckman did not release information on the type of instrument used to inflict the stab wounds nor the type of gun used in the shooting; and as of Friday afternoon, no weapons had been recovered.

Peckman said that little examination of the body took place at the scene in order to preserve evidence that could be documented in an autopsy to be performed by medical examiners in Springfield.

Cathey is in custody and charged with first degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action. He was arrested in Bourbon County Thursday night without incident and is being held without bail in the Bourbon County Jail. Extradition to Vernon County will be sought, Peckman said. The Bourbon County Sheriff's Office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Vernon County Sheriff's Office all participated in the investigation, which is ongoing.

Officers remained on the scene for several hours Thursday night, Peckman said.

"We still have some work to do on Monday," Peckman said. Officers will be executing search warrants on vehicles, cell phone records; "things like that," he said.

Officers have secured Gibbs' vehicle for impoundment and a thorough search of the truck will be conducted. Peckman also indicated that the investigation could lead to more arrests connected to the incident in some way.